0:00:07 > 0:00:14Ancient Egypt, with its pyramids, its mummies and its Pharaohs.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19No other civilisation has such a powerful grip on our imagination.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23But, even after 200 years of digging, some archaeologists believe
0:00:23 > 0:00:27they have found just 1% of this once-great empire.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Beneath Egyptian sands lie lost cities, forgotten tombs,
0:00:34 > 0:00:35even buried pyramids.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42But now one archaeologist thinks she holds the key to unlock it all,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45and she is turning to the heavens for help.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50She is using satellites that can see beneath the surface of the Earth.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55This 21st-century technology can help identify a lost city,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58not in decades, but in moments.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Lo and behold, the map of a whole city.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08She's also on the trail of possible palaces and pyramids,
0:01:08 > 0:01:13towns and villages, to create the most unique map of Ancient Egypt
0:01:13 > 0:01:14ever seen.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26'I'm Dallas Campbell, a broadcaster with a passion for science
0:01:26 > 0:01:28'and technology.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32'This is my chance to join this revolution in archaeology.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:33So, that IS a pyramid.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38And I'm Liz Bonnin, a scientist and conservationist.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Together, we'll help map a lost civilisation
0:01:42 > 0:01:45guided by the world's greatest Egyptologists.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52I could never have imagined this is what your technology would reveal.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58We will recreate Ancient Egypt in all its magnificence.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11It's an epic adventure that will take us from the distant past...
0:02:11 > 0:02:14This long-lost city isn't quite as lost as it used to be.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17..through a turbulent present...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22..to a fascinating future.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26We had no idea of the extent of all of this.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39MUSIC: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynryd
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Our journey starts not in Egypt, but in America's Deep South,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57in Birmingham, Alabama.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01It's here that archaeologist Dr Sarah Parcak
0:03:01 > 0:03:04runs her NASA-sponsored laboratory.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Sarah is a pioneer in the new science of space archaeology,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13part of a new generation of Indiana Joneses who combine
0:03:13 > 0:03:15technology with trowels.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Satellites orbiting 700 kilometres above the Earth are equipped
0:03:24 > 0:03:26with high-resolution cameras
0:03:26 > 0:03:28developed by the military for spying.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Cameras so powerful they can pinpoint objects less than a metre
0:03:36 > 0:03:38in diameter on the Earth's surface.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41But that's just the first step.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48This is just an optical photograph, zoomed in a little bit?
0:03:48 > 0:03:51This is the equivalent of an aerial photograph, but taken from space.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Right, what we're going to do,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57we're going to journey north to a very large, well-known,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Ancient Egyptian capital city called Tanis.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Everyone knows it because of Indiana Jones.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05What we have here is a well-excavated part of the site,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07with very large temples
0:04:07 > 0:04:11and ongoing excavations by a French team.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17- This southern part has not been excavated.- Not a whole lot going on.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20- Except for that square there. What is that?- That's a temple.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24What's amazing is, when you visit this part of Tanis on the ground,
0:04:24 > 0:04:25there's nothing there.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Sarah knows this sandy wasteland well from her many visits to Egypt,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and there's simply nothing to see.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But the desert is about to give up its secrets.
0:04:39 > 0:04:46What we've done is we've taken the higher-resolution space photographs
0:04:46 > 0:04:49and I've combined it with state-of-the-art,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51infrared technology.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56And lo and behold, the map of a whole city.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00- Holy...- Cow!- Cow.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11- Look at that.- Are they all little houses?- They're all buildings.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14'It could be the ghostly image of what was once
0:05:14 > 0:05:19'the capital of Ancient Egypt, a street map from the distant past.'
0:05:19 > 0:05:22It was very densely occupied.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24You can almost see hints of city streets.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26- Yes.- God!- Elite housing...
0:05:26 > 0:05:30You get almost like a complete architectural plan of the city.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35What is it about the near infrared that makes these buildings
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and streets visible, all the structure that we can suddenly see?
0:05:38 > 0:05:41They built their houses out of mud brick,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46and this mud brick is much denser than the soil that surrounds it.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51I'd always assumed infrared only detected heat,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54but it can also help identify different materials.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58This allows Sarah to reveal buildings lying below the surface.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03The whole of Egypt has suddenly opened up.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- It's a whole new era.- You can see everything from your lab.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'Sarah is not only looking for lost cities,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'she is also on the trail of buried temples, labyrinths,
0:06:12 > 0:06:18'harems and the most prized monument of them all, the pyramid.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Let's move down to...Saqqara.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31And what we have here in front of us are some Dynasty XIII pyramids.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34This one belongs to a Pharaoh called Khendjer.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36This is an unfinished pyramid.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41And what I want you to do is have a look.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42What else do you see?
0:06:46 > 0:06:51There's a kind of shape here, almost like a square, as well.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- Shall we have a closer look? - Yes, go on.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00So, that IS a pyramid.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03This is a pyramid that was found quite recently
0:07:03 > 0:07:05using space archaeology.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07No-one had any idea there was a pyramid there until they used this?
0:07:07 > 0:07:12It was spotted from space and you can see it there.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15- When you walk around there on the ground...- Nothing at all.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16You can't see anything.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The structure was initially spotted by Robert Schiestl,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21a German archaeologist.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22Then you think to yourself,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25"Well, could there potentially be others out there?"
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It's incredible.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I could never have imagined this is what your technology would reveal.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Sarah's ambition is not just to uncover lost, iconic buildings,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42but also to create the most complete map of Ancient Egypt ever seen.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49She's convinced that 99% of this fascinating civilisation
0:07:49 > 0:07:51still remains buried beneath the sands.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57While her team here in Alabama hunt for more sites using the satellite data...
0:08:01 > 0:08:05..it's time for us to head to Egypt,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09to discover if what Sarah is seeing from space is actually there.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Cairo, the chaotic and spellbinding capital of modern Egypt.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33This is the starting point of our expedition.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40- We're meeting our guide, Ramy Romany. - Hello, how are you doing?
0:08:40 > 0:08:46- Great to see you.- Hello, I'm Liz. Very nice to meet you, Ramy.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06So, Ramy, are you actually from Cairo, is this your town?
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Yes, I was born and I lived and I got raised here in Cairo.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11I love it here.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15It's a crazy city, there's hustle and bustle, but it's beautiful.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19- How many people live in Cairo? - How many people live in Cairo?- Yeah.
0:09:19 > 0:09:2120 million live in Cairo.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25One street has five million Egyptians living in it.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38We're crossing the River Nile.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41It has always been the lifeblood of this country.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Today, 95% of Egypt's population live on this narrow,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48fertile strip of land.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Beyond is nothing but empty desert.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00It was on these banks the world's greatest ancient civilisation
0:10:00 > 0:10:03flourished for more than 3,000 years.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09'And if you're near the Nile, the past is never far away.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:11I can see a pyramid!
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- Where? Oh, my gosh.- Not just one, three of them are right there.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'm getting shivers down my spine just seeing those things.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Why do the pyramids do that to us?
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Because they're the most iconic structures in the entire world.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Which one's the great one?
0:10:26 > 0:10:29- The biggest...- No, they're both equal size, look!- That's perspective.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33The one on the right-hand side is the Great Pyramid of Giza.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44But the Great Pyramid isn't our destination quite yet.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47We're heading south-west to a less well-known,
0:10:47 > 0:10:48but equally intriguing, spot.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59It's called Saqqara, one of the places Sarah told us about
0:10:59 > 0:11:01back in Alabama.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03It stands on the western edge of the Nile Valley.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11It's here that Sarah's mobile lab is being set up.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14We want to test out her space-age technology on the ground
0:11:14 > 0:11:15for the first time.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21For the Ancient Egyptians, this desert edge was the place
0:11:21 > 0:11:24where order was replaced by chaos, where the fertility that
0:11:24 > 0:11:29sprang from the Nile met the scorching death of the desert.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40The lab is close to the pyramid field Sarah showed us in America.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Satellite imagery has already revealed one potential pyramid.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Now Sarah wants to show us something else that's caught her eye.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Here we are. Actually, we are exactly right here.
0:11:53 > 0:12:00A few hundred yards to the south is the exact area that intrigues Sarah.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04On the surface, there's little to be seen.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07This is the image you saw in Birmingham.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Here we have the unfinished pyramid.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11- Right.- Yes.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And this is the pyramid that we looked at.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19But when I was processing this image, something else came up.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24And I started looking over here and we can see visually maybe a hint.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28- Of a corner there.- Very, very hard to see visually.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31'But when Sarah puts in the infrared filter,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34'the faint outline of something buried
0:12:34 > 0:12:36'beneath the desert begins to emerge.'
0:12:37 > 0:12:43- See that?- Oh, wow.- Yes. Oh, my gosh.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47What you're seeing here is the foundation of a pyramid.
0:12:47 > 0:12:48It's 52 by 52 metres,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53which is the standard size of pyramids from Dynasty XIII.
0:12:53 > 0:12:5652 metres is 100 cubits.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00The cubit was the standard unit of length in Ancient Egypt,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03the distance from elbow to fingertip.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05But there's more.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10You can actually see running sort of south, south-west,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14what I think could potentially be a causeway.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18This could be the route along which building stone was transported
0:13:18 > 0:13:19to the pyramid.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25We're talking about a pyramid that no-one's ever even thought about?
0:13:25 > 0:13:30I have to ask, if there's a whole pyramid that no-one knows about,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32could there be stuff in it?
0:13:32 > 0:13:36- This is something we don't know. - So, what's the next step?
0:13:36 > 0:13:42- Are you looking to try and get this excavated?- I would love to excavate.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46To excavate a pyramid is the dream of most archaeologists.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50'Getting permission to dig isn't going to be easy.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54'Here, all the ancient sites are rightly protected, but for Sarah,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59'it's the only way she can prove her technology actually works.'
0:14:03 > 0:14:06To get a better understanding of what we're looking for,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08I'm heading north to Giza...
0:14:10 > 0:14:13..the location of the most iconic pyramid of all.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23I'm meeting Dr Zahi Hawass, the Minister of Antiquities.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26He has the power to decide whether the possible pyramids
0:14:26 > 0:14:29discovered at Saqqara can be excavated.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36His passion is the Great Pyramid.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38It is still the largest
0:14:38 > 0:14:41and most accurately built stone monument on Earth.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46But to appreciate the true genius of a pyramid, you have to go inside.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51When they dug this entrance and entered inside,
0:14:51 > 0:14:56they found many late-period mummified bodies
0:14:56 > 0:14:57and things like this.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00'The Great Pyramid is the only survivor of
0:15:00 > 0:15:03'the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07'It was the final resting place of the Pharaoh Khufu.'
0:15:07 > 0:15:08This is a tight fit.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15'800 years later,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19'the pyramid builders at Saqqara must have learned
0:15:19 > 0:15:21'many lessons from this masterpiece.'
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Constructed using two million blocks,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31the Great Pyramid weighs five million tonnes.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33It rises at a constant angle of 51 degrees
0:15:33 > 0:15:37to reach the height of a 35-storey building.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43All built in less than 15 years, using soft copper tools
0:15:43 > 0:15:44and a simple plumb line.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Inside is a complex network of passageways
0:15:49 > 0:15:52linking the entrance to the burial chamber deep within.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04- God! Look at this!- Amazing. - Where are we? This is extraordinary.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10The Grand Gallery. The most fascinating structure on Earth.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14The function of the 8.5-metre high ceiling remains a mystery
0:16:14 > 0:16:16to this day.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20The pyramid is one of the most explored monuments in human history,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23but it kept a secret for 4,500 years.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28In the roof of the Grand Gallery is a passageway that,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31until 170 years ago, led nowhere.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Only blasting with gunpowder revealed five more cramped chambers
0:16:36 > 0:16:38stacked one on top of the other.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44The topmost has a triangular ceiling designed to take
0:16:44 > 0:16:47the load of the thousands of tonnes of limestone above.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Few people are allowed here these days.
0:16:57 > 0:16:58HE BREATHES HEAVILY
0:17:08 > 0:17:10OK?
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Ah.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Argh!
0:17:30 > 0:17:32HE GASPS
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Argh.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38LABOURED BREATHING
0:17:41 > 0:17:43- Are you here?- Yeah.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Now, I need to tell you some important things here.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58- Come by my left side here.- Yeah.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02You know, this is the top, fifth chamber.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- This is the last one.- The very top?
0:18:05 > 0:18:07This room has been found by English.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10This is the story of the people...
0:18:10 > 0:18:13The people who, in the last three centuries,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16used to come to explore the pyramid and write their names
0:18:16 > 0:18:18and year and things like that.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25Now I'm going to take you to this big surprise here. Follow me.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29'The graffiti in this chamber isn't all the work of intrepid explorers.'
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Mr Dallas, look at this.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38This letter in hieroglyphic means "gang".
0:18:38 > 0:18:44And look, this means followers.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47And this is the cartouche of Khufu.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51The name of the gang who built the pyramid were called
0:18:51 > 0:18:54the Followers Gang of Khufu.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58So, this graffiti is 4,500 years old?
0:18:58 > 0:19:03It's 4,500 years ago, left by the workmen who built the pyramid.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16I can't imagine another room on Earth that has
0:19:16 > 0:19:19such historical significance.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Not just historical significance, such scientific significance.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25The science, you've got this vaulted ceiling,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27which as an engineering project means so much.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29It's supporting the weight of the pyramid.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32It's extraordinary that they had that technology 4,500 years ago.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36With history, the history of the pyramid itself, which we know,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39but within this room you have these fantastic stories,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41of people who have been here before.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46It is amazing, it's special. This is off the scale.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59The Giza pyramids now stand at the edge of
0:19:59 > 0:20:01the sprawling Cairo metropolis.
0:20:06 > 0:20:094,500 years ago,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13this place was very different from the isolated monuments we see today.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21The Sphinx stood as a silent sentinel
0:20:21 > 0:20:23guarding a massive complex of buildings.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Each pyramid was connected to the Nile by a causeway.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42At either end were temples built to honour the dead king
0:20:42 > 0:20:44on his journey to the afterlife.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50The pyramids of Saqqara would have followed this plan.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53The landscape would have looked completely different, too.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55It was then a lush, fertile savanna.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02When all this was completed around 2,500 BC,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Egypt was experiencing the first golden age in its long history.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16It began when the first dynasty of Egyptian kings created
0:21:16 > 0:21:20an entirely new society, around 3,000 BC.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26They turned mummification into an art, invented hieroglyphics,
0:21:26 > 0:21:31and within 500 years had built the Great Pyramid of Giza.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Nearly 800 years later, in the 13th Dynasty,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43there was a new enthusiasm for pyramid building.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46The potential pyramids discovered by satellite archaeology
0:21:46 > 0:21:50at Saqqara appear to be from this period.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55'But I have a question.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59'If the pyramids do exist, who might they have belonged to?
0:21:59 > 0:22:04'I head into Cairo with Ramy, who thinks he might have an answer.'
0:22:09 > 0:22:13'Ramy's first piece of evidence is an ancient document.'
0:22:13 > 0:22:16The only list of things we have that dates back to the 13th Dynasty
0:22:16 > 0:22:20was written on a papyrus.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23We have a replica of it right here.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29'The original document was pieced together from 160 fragments.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34'It names 60 kings from the 13th Dynasty, many without known tombs.'
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I love this list, it has the names of the king
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and how long everyone reigned.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42'It's a long list.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46'But Ramy has a contender for the king who might have built
0:22:46 > 0:22:48'one of our potential pyramids.'
0:22:48 > 0:22:53- My favourite one.- Why?- Because he ruled for nearly 23 years.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56It's King Merneferre Ay.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00- Merneferre Ay. - Yeah, let's just call him Ay.- Ay.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05I'm getting a sense of how compelling Egyptology is,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09and how, the minute you start getting a tiny little piece of the puzzle,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13- you need to find out more. It's an endless search, isn't it?- Yes.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23In fact, the burial places of 200 Pharaohs, including King Ay,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25are still to be found.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30It's likely many were buried in pyramids.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35So the possibility that satellite archaeology has found two more
0:23:35 > 0:23:37is of huge importance.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42The only way for Sarah to know for certain what she has found
0:23:42 > 0:23:43will be to excavate,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47but the Egyptian authorities have very strict rules.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52In order to verify what's on the ground,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57we have to get permission to get out there and to dig and to survey.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I really hope to be able to do it.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It was really frustrating because I got turned down.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05And to know that the satellite technology
0:24:05 > 0:24:09has suggested where we think a pyramid might be,
0:24:09 > 0:24:14and then to not get permission, it's so frustrating.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Back in Cairo, Ramy has brought me
0:24:24 > 0:24:28to the famous Egyptian Museum to show me another piece of the jigsaw.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43King Ay was the longest-reigning Pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45but is there any evidence
0:24:45 > 0:24:48that his lost burial place was actually a pyramid?
0:24:50 > 0:24:51In a corner of this treasure trove,
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Ramy knows of something that could link King Ay to Sarah's research.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03It's the top of a pyramid, known as a pyramidion.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- This one has the name of a king on it.- OK.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09So the first bit here on the left, it's not that obvious here.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Let me look at it there. Not that obvious here. Here we go.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19- Can you make it out?- King Ay.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Could Ay's pyramidion have capped one of the pyramids we're hunting?
0:25:27 > 0:25:31If so, then using a few simple calculations will show us
0:25:31 > 0:25:33the scale of the structure.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37There are also two more cap stones that were
0:25:37 > 0:25:39found in the 13th Dynasty pyramid field.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41That angle would be...
0:25:43 > 0:25:46'We're now able to work out the size of all of our potential
0:25:46 > 0:25:47'pyramids on the site.'
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- 49?- Yes.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Back in the lab, it is Sarah's first opportunity to turn
0:25:53 > 0:25:55all of this data into a 3D reconstruction.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Can we start to use the evidence that you saw in the museum
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and actually start to see how large
0:26:04 > 0:26:07these pyramids may have been if they were completed?
0:26:07 > 0:26:08- Sure.- Let's have a look.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Had all these pyramids been completed,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14this is what this plateau may have looked like.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Like the pyramids at Giza, these later, more modest structures,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33barely 40 metres high, would have had temples, causeways and harbours.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37The potential pyramids would most likely have been dressed in
0:26:37 > 0:26:41the same white limestone as the Great Pyramid,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44but the temples would have been much more ornate.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48In the Middle Kingdom, the emphasis was on detail rather than size.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58But without excavation we can't be certain about anything.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Now all that might be about to change.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09THEY SPEAK IN ARABIC
0:27:09 > 0:27:11"To Dr Sarah." Right.
0:27:17 > 0:27:18Here is the moment of truth.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29"Dear Dr Sarah Parcak,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33"it has been confirmed that Dr Hawass has decided to excavate..."
0:27:33 > 0:27:40Wow! "..to the southeast of the unfinished pyramid." My goodness.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45'Finally, permission has been given to excavate the possible pyramids.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50'It's the first step in building up a completely new picture of this area.'
0:27:52 > 0:27:56- Wow!- For real?- That's so great, that's amazing, well done.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00It is going to really help us understand what we're seeing.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19November 2010. Dr Hawass and his team begin a full-scale excavation.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25It's the first time Sarah's satellite archaeology has led
0:28:25 > 0:28:27to such a massive undertaking.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Dr Hawass has been won over by the potential of the images.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38To look at the map in a photograph taken by satellite,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and you see things buried underneath
0:28:41 > 0:28:45and to start excavating that, it's wonderful.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50It will be some weeks before we can return to see what
0:28:50 > 0:28:52the excavation will reveal.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02This is just the beginning of Sarah's ambitious plans.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07She wants to map the entire country from space.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11With her team in Alabama, she has already completed the first step,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15a survey of the giant burial ground of Saqqara.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19And it has revealed an astonishing number of possible sites.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Both myself and my lab have found thousands
0:29:23 > 0:29:25and thousands of new tombs.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30We have found up to 17 structures that seem highly suggestive to be
0:29:30 > 0:29:35new pyramids, both royal as well as queens' or princes' pyramids.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44This is already a significant achievement.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Now for the rest of Egypt.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Next stop, Tanis, the lost city that looked
0:30:03 > 0:30:06so exciting on the satellite images back in Alabama.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Tanis was an important capital city for 1,600 years.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25It was abandoned around 600 AD.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31It is the iconic lost city featured in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35When excavated in the late 1930s, it produced a wealth of treasures
0:30:35 > 0:30:38that rival even Tutankhamun's.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45But with the outbreak of the Second World War Tanis was forgotten again.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Sarah is meeting Dr Philippe Brissaud.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Bonjour, Philippe, ca va?
0:30:56 > 0:31:00He's worked here for 20 years and knows every inch of this site.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Sarah's satellite image shows there could be a huge complex
0:31:05 > 0:31:07of mud-brick buildings here.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Philippe has been digging a test trench for a week to see
0:31:10 > 0:31:12if she is right.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16It's now time for the result.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Will his findings match the street plans Sarah saw from space?
0:31:20 > 0:31:21Look at this!
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Wow!
0:31:35 > 0:31:41We are in the middle of the building you have seen from the sky.
0:31:43 > 0:31:48For Sarah, it's a big moment, the first time that excavation has
0:31:48 > 0:31:51proved her satellite archaeology works.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54It's really exciting for me as an archaeologist
0:31:54 > 0:31:58because what we have here is very detailed mud-brick work
0:31:58 > 0:32:02and you get a sense of that from space.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05It's something that validates the satellite work.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10It is a major step forward.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15It's significant because it provides real, hands-on, tangible evidence
0:32:15 > 0:32:17that there was a large settlement here,
0:32:17 > 0:32:23but also demonstrates the fact that space archaeology, remote sensing, is a really useful tool
0:32:23 > 0:32:27for archaeologists to be much more focused and systematic in their work.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Satellite archaeology has revealed a street map of the city,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37potentially four times bigger than ever imagined.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Without these images, it would have taken years to uncover.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49If Sarah continues like this,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53the scale of Ancient Egypt will have to be entirely revised.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Now we are going to explore even further back in time,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12to the period before Pharaohs and pyramids.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Can satellite archaeology add to our knowledge of how Egypt's
0:33:16 > 0:33:18great civilisation began?
0:33:21 > 0:33:24To find out, we leave the fertile Nile Valley behind.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30This is it, the beginning of the Sahara,
0:33:30 > 0:33:32the largest desert in the world,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34the hottest place on Earth,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and we're going to be here for the next five days,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41hopefully uncovering some of its secrets from the past.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53We're heading west, deep into the heart of the Sahara.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Nothing but sand for the next 5,000 kilometres.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Temperatures here reach 50 degrees.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09We pull up 700 kilometres southwest of Cairo.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13But what has drawn Sarah here does not lie buried beneath the sand.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16It can be found on the surface.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20What we can see from the satellite imagery... Let's zoom in a little.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22On this visual image you can't really see anything,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24just a harsh desert landscape.
0:34:24 > 0:34:25Very much so, yeah.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29But when we start to process things, and zoom in a little bit,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31what do you see?
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Gosh, I don't have your expert eyes.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36But I see little circles,
0:34:36 > 0:34:41recessions in the ground in beautiful, perfect circles.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45It doesn't look natural. It doesn't look...
0:34:45 > 0:34:47- Gosh, what are they? - They're hut circles.
0:34:47 > 0:34:53- Hut circles.- These are places where people many thousands of years ago lived.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55That's incredible.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Are these tiny dots all that
0:34:58 > 0:35:02remains of the dwellings of the ancestors of the Pharaohs?
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Where exactly are these compared to where we are now?
0:35:06 > 0:35:08They are somewhere over there.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12Spotting these hut circles from space is one thing,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15finding them on the ground is a lot harder.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20I haven't tested this particular type of imagery this far out in the desert before.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23I'm pretty confident about things in the Nile Valley and Delta,
0:35:23 > 0:35:28but out here, who knows if it will work or if it won't?
0:35:29 > 0:35:34Sarah's satellite archaeology is good at identifying mud brick
0:35:34 > 0:35:36buried just beneath the surface,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40but what about stone circles in a vast wilderness of sand?
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Sat nav will help narrow down the location,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48but then it's down to us to spot them.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56I don't mean to be funny, but we have been walking for quite a while.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Are you sure you know where we're going?
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Well, this is the thing you can never be sure of.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Things are looking more promising.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Very promising. And look at where we are right now.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11- Er, where might that be? - OK, look, you see...
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Do you see these large circles?
0:36:16 > 0:36:21'Sarah may be able to see something, but I'll need some convincing.'
0:36:21 > 0:36:24From above, you really get a sense of the circles,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27from here it is very difficult to make them all out, isn't it?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32But is there any other evidence that people once lived here?
0:36:34 > 0:36:36Look at this. Look here. Look, look.
0:36:36 > 0:36:42These are tools. Or evidence of work tools. Look at this.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Look at this piece.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47It's a beautiful piece.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51It takes an incredible craftsman to know the right angle,
0:36:51 > 0:36:56the right pressure, and they strike the stone to get a perfect flake.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00They work a stone down so you get perfect edges.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05'The remains of prehistoric human activity are all around us.'
0:37:05 > 0:37:11- What's that, Sarah? - It's ostrich eggshell.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15- They would have used these ostrich eggshells as vessels for carrying water.- You're kidding!
0:37:15 > 0:37:18No, and there's a bunch of it all over the place.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20- Is this another piece here? - Yep.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Everything suggests that this desert wasteland was once
0:37:26 > 0:37:28a very fertile place.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36In fact, for thousands of years, communities
0:37:36 > 0:37:40thrived in the Sahara, settling close to food sources
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and water that was then here in abundance.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49Satellites can quickly map hundreds of square kilometres that
0:37:49 > 0:37:52would have taken years using conventional archaeology.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56Now we can get a far better picture of how many people lived here
0:37:56 > 0:37:59in prehistoric times.
0:38:07 > 0:38:13After a long day, we head off to join Dallas and the others at the camp.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Are people generally quite sceptical of new technology when it comes along?
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Is there an old guard who tend to pooh-pooh it a bit?
0:38:27 > 0:38:31It has been a struggle, just because the technology is so new.
0:38:31 > 0:38:37And when you show people facts and figures about sites you're finding or show them
0:38:37 > 0:38:40things you're seeing, people roll their eyes and say, "Here comes
0:38:40 > 0:38:45"yet another gee-whiz technology that aims to solve everything."
0:38:45 > 0:38:52Well, the proof is in the pictures. These people can focus on this site much faster.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56We've spoken to archaeologists here who are looking at your work, thinking this is revolutionary.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24The following day, Ramy wants to show me how
0:39:24 > 0:39:28the Stone Age people had ambitions beyond being just hunter-gatherers.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38- What are you showing me? Oh, my gosh! - Can you see that?
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Those are hand prints, hand marks that might have
0:39:42 > 0:39:45dated back to 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 years BC.
0:39:45 > 0:39:46We don't even know when.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54'These prints were made by blowing paint over human hands.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59'Were these people the ancestors of the Pharaohs
0:39:59 > 0:40:02'and this their first attempt to make their mark on history?'
0:40:03 > 0:40:08To think that a human being actually put their hand right there
0:40:08 > 0:40:10on that stone, it's so special.
0:40:10 > 0:40:148,000 years ago, even before Moses.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20Rock art like this has been found all over the Sahara.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24These figures are from the famous Cave of the Swimmers
0:40:24 > 0:40:26on Egypt's distant southwest border.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29But there's a mystery.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33These prehistoric tribes were no different to many other groups
0:40:33 > 0:40:34all across Africa.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38So why did these small desert communities become
0:40:38 > 0:40:40such a powerful civilisation?
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Professor Salima Ikram has an answer.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51In 4,000 BC, there seems to have been a change in the climate.
0:40:51 > 0:40:52The whole rain cycle changed
0:40:52 > 0:40:56and therefore people started moving away from the Sahara and into
0:40:56 > 0:40:58more dependable water sources,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01and here in Egypt that would have been the Nile Valley.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05As the people from the deserts converged into the Nile Valley, you can see them
0:41:05 > 0:41:07taking their ideas, their belief systems there
0:41:07 > 0:41:12and then those being gradually transformed into what we have and what we know as Pharaonic Egypt.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20It appears that 6,000 years ago a climate catastrophe forced
0:41:20 > 0:41:24these early Egyptians to head to the Nile.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28They were not to know it at the time, but it was to prove a paradise.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40The great river was the ideal environment to forge these small
0:41:40 > 0:41:45hunter-gatherer groups into a great civilisation based on agriculture.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54They enjoyed the perfect combination of the sun, a constant
0:41:54 > 0:41:58supply of water, and rich soil fertilised by the annual flood.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03Still to this day, the land can grow as many as
0:42:03 > 0:42:05six crops in a single year.
0:42:14 > 0:42:186,000 years ago, such abundance created a society
0:42:18 > 0:42:25so prosperous it could devote vast resources to life and to death.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32The Valley of the Kings is the burial ground of the Pharaohs
0:42:32 > 0:42:33of the New Kingdom.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35It is the era of Ramesses the Great,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39when Ancient Egypt reached the height of its power and wealth.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43This valley is a tantalising reminder
0:42:43 > 0:42:45that so much of Ancient Egypt's riches
0:42:45 > 0:42:49could still remain hidden in the desert.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56It was here, in 1922, that Ancient Egypt made headlines around
0:42:56 > 0:43:01the world with the discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun's tomb.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08I am with archaeologist John Romer, who has worked here for 40 years.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10We're retracing Carter's footsteps.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16- This was completely filled with rubble.- I can imagine.
0:43:16 > 0:43:22When they got to here, there was a great wall of plaster with
0:43:22 > 0:43:23royal seals stamped all over it.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28They take a bit of the plaster out and there's a brick wall behind.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33Pull out one of the bricks, thinking there's going to be this damage.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36There's an amazing moment because what happens is
0:43:36 > 0:43:38all the hot air goes whoosh out of the tomb,
0:43:38 > 0:43:41and there's this amazing smell, like spice.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Until you've smelt it, you cannot describe it.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45But he held a candle up
0:43:45 > 0:43:48and when he pushed it through the hole, what's he seeing?
0:43:48 > 0:43:52He's seeing three huge gold couches along that wall.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57A whole... Piles and piles, golden thrones, boxes full of jewellery,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59all in front of him.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Famously, Carter said, "I looked upon wonderful things."
0:44:08 > 0:44:12Let's go in here. There are the chariots, just over there.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14This is beautiful.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18But, in a way, I am a little bit surprised at the size of it
0:44:18 > 0:44:20and the simplicity of it.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22It is tiny. This is a private tomb.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25All this gold, they wanted to get the king in the ground -
0:44:25 > 0:44:27some say he was murdered, who knows?
0:44:27 > 0:44:29They say they wanted to bury him very quickly,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32so they bunged him into a private tomb with all this stuff.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35So why did Tutankhamun, who didn't rule for that long,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37have the most amazing golden
0:44:37 > 0:44:40coffin and all these riches buried with him?
0:44:40 > 0:44:41The clues are like this.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44A lot of the stuff in this tomb wasn't originally made for it.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48Much of this treasure actually belonged to
0:44:48 > 0:44:50Tutankhamun's immediate family.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54His father, Akhenaten, had founded a new religion,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57the first to worship a single god.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01But when Tutankhamun became king he abandoned this new religion
0:45:01 > 0:45:05and its capital, and he took many of its treasures to his grave.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07So what do you think the chances are
0:45:07 > 0:45:12of finding another undiscovered, unlooted tomb?
0:45:12 > 0:45:14Very high. Egypt is one enormous cemetery.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Where would you go? What is the first place you would look at?
0:45:18 > 0:45:21I'd choose Thebes, the mountains of Thebes around here.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23And Abydos.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29For 3,000 years,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33the site of Abydos was the place of pilgrimage for millions.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44This is its most important place of worship, the Great Temple of Seti I.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Pilgrims came here believing that Abydos was the burial place
0:45:50 > 0:45:53of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59This area is the most sacred place in all of Ancient Egypt.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05The burial place of the very first Egyptian kings, 5,000 years ago.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10What has drawn us to Abydos is the prospect of finding something
0:46:10 > 0:46:14that every Egyptologist secretly dreams about,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16an undiscovered, intact royal tomb.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18Probably not on the scale of Tutankhamun,
0:46:18 > 0:46:20but you never know unless you look.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29Sarah has set up camp on the edge of Abydos' royal graveyard.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34It overlooks the valley in the eastern desert cliffs,
0:46:34 > 0:46:36known throughout Ancient Egypt
0:46:36 > 0:46:38as the gateway to the afterlife.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Sarah is hoping her satellite imagery will reveal what
0:46:43 > 0:46:47over 100 years of traditional archaeology has failed to uncover,
0:46:47 > 0:46:51one of the missing tombs of the very first kings.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01'I'm meeting archaeologist Dr Gunter Dreyer,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04'who has been working here for 30 years.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06'He wants to show me his current dig.'
0:47:08 > 0:47:12This is the earliest royal burial ground of Egypt.
0:47:12 > 0:47:13Right.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18The earliest rulers of Egypt, pre-dynastic ones, and the rulers
0:47:18 > 0:47:22of the First and Second Dynasty are buried here, about 3,000 BC.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25We are in the very heart of the beginning of Egyptian culture here.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27That is a lot of pottery.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32These sherds are fragments of late-period offerings.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35The Ancient Egyptians came here by the millions
0:47:35 > 0:47:37and left offering vessels here.
0:47:38 > 0:47:43We roughly estimate it altogether may be about 10 million pots.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49Gunter is investigating the First Dynasty tomb of King Djer.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52It was originally excavated in the late 19th century.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54How would it work?
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Take me through the layout of this.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00Yeah. Well, there is a huge chamber with brick lining
0:48:00 > 0:48:03and in the middle of that chamber there was a large wooden shrine,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08supported by these protruding walls, cell walls.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12They also form little storerooms for equipment.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Djer's tomb was once covered by a mound of earth.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20It was a forerunner of the pyramids.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Back in her lab, Sarah thinks she is on to something
0:48:33 > 0:48:38in an unexplored area close to the burial ground.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41What grabbed me when I was looking at this imagery
0:48:41 > 0:48:43is an area down here.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46- Oh, OK.- Can you see the depression? - Yes.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50An almost imperceptible dip on the surface,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53it might just be the sign of a collapsed tomb.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56But there's a problem.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Anything that would be here would be buried three, four,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01five metres underneath the sand,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05and the high-resolution technology that I have cannot see that far.
0:49:05 > 0:49:06- Not ready for that?- Not yet.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Sarah thinks she has an explanation for the shallow
0:49:11 > 0:49:16depression on the surface, if a royal tomb lurks beneath.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19You're going to get the sand infilling and you're going to get
0:49:19 > 0:49:22a slight shallow depression if there is something there,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26that tends to be a suggestion, based on topography.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29That is what we're seeing, we're seeing depression and,
0:49:29 > 0:49:32potentially, mud brick under the surface.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36So let's just be clear here, we're talking the possibility of discovering
0:49:36 > 0:49:40an undiscovered, intact royal tomb?
0:49:40 > 0:49:42This is big, this is major-league.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48The image is hinting at something, but is Sarah's analysis correct?
0:49:49 > 0:49:53The potential tomb is too deep to be picked up on her satellite cameras,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56but Gunter agrees to dig a test trench.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01It takes Sarah one step closer to every archaeologist's dream.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07There is the five-year-old inside me that saw Indiana Jones
0:50:07 > 0:50:14for the first time and just dreamt about finding a lost tomb.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17It's the Holy Grail for archaeology.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19So, it would be amazing.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21What does Gunter think, I haven't really asked that?
0:50:21 > 0:50:25What is his... He's looked at the images. Based on that,
0:50:25 > 0:50:28without having fully explored yet, what is his gut reaction?
0:50:28 > 0:50:35- I mean, he's given it a one in a thousand shot.- I like those odds!
0:50:35 > 0:50:39Are those odds good enough to warrant the manpower and the expense
0:50:39 > 0:50:40and everything else?
0:50:40 > 0:50:45You think about great archaeologists like Howard Carter.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47He dug for years and years and was, in many ways,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50a failure at what he did until he found Tutankhamun.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01All we can do now is wait.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Three days later, Gunter has a result.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21- You all right? - This is the moment of truth.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24It's been a while since I have been this excited
0:51:24 > 0:51:27at the possibility of finding something like this.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30I've never before had the opportunity to search for
0:51:30 > 0:51:31a royal tomb at Abydos.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36What we did is outline
0:51:36 > 0:51:41the area in question, as indicated on the satellite photograph,
0:51:41 > 0:51:48and then we dug two trenches.
0:51:49 > 0:51:56One south-north, and another one east-west.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01What came out is mainly clean Egyptian sand.
0:52:01 > 0:52:08- Right.- All this is solid deposits of sand.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14No indication of any pit one would expect for royalty.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20Despite the setback, Gunter feels the technology is of value.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22The method works.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26It tells us where there are anomalies,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30- and we have to find out what is the reason for that anomaly.- Yeah.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34The image suggested there was something there,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38but Sarah's hunch that it was a royal tomb was a step too far.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44You always hope, that's part of archaeology.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46We're, um...
0:52:46 > 0:52:50I think you have to be an incredible optimist to be in this field.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57But, gosh, it would have been nice to find something.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Even though this time the site was beyond the reach of Sarah's cameras,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11she is not disheartened for long.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Using her technology where it is proven to be most effective
0:53:14 > 0:53:17she has completed the next stage of her map,
0:53:17 > 0:53:18the whole of Upper Egypt.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20In Upper Egypt alone,
0:53:20 > 0:53:24I've been able to find over 1,200 new ancient sites.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26- Flippin' heck! 1,200?! - Of settlement, yes.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28That's mind-blowing!
0:53:30 > 0:53:331,200 potential discoveries.
0:53:33 > 0:53:34Many could be ancient towns
0:53:34 > 0:53:39and villages that will fill in the gaps of the Egyptian landscape.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42And she is only halfway through creating her map.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50And now she is taking on an exciting new challenge.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54She wants to bring back to life three of Ancient Egypt's
0:53:54 > 0:53:56most mysterious buildings.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00Each has a story to tell about an important period in Egypt's history.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05All, until now, have remained an enigma.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10A harem palace, lost in the desert.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16A mythical labyrinth, revered by the Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22And a mysterious lost temple that was once at the centre
0:54:22 > 0:54:23of Egyptian religion.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31First, the temple built more than 4,000 years ago in the Old Kingdom.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39It was dedicated to the worship of the sun,
0:54:39 > 0:54:43then Ancient Egypt's most important religious cult.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49According to ancient texts, many Fifth Dynasty pyramids
0:54:49 > 0:54:53of the Old Kingdom were built with a nearby sun temple.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08But, so far, only two have ever been discovered.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11They are close to the rarely visited pyramids at Abusir.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19The location of the other sun temples has confounded
0:55:19 > 0:55:21generations of Egyptologists.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Sarah has invited archaeologist Dr Vassil Dobrev to examine
0:55:26 > 0:55:29an area he suspects may harbour a hidden temple.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35We see the pyramids that we see right outside our tent.
0:55:35 > 0:55:42So, if we were to look for missing sun temples, where would be the most logical place to put them?
0:55:42 > 0:55:47It is quite legitimate to think the missing temples, solar temples,
0:55:47 > 0:55:48could be somewhere here.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Once Sarah puts in the infrared filter,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54Vassil begins to see something.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Look at this thing here.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00It is very clear. So clear.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04It's like a wall, there's something in the middle. A big square.
0:56:04 > 0:56:10It's very big. It looks like we've spotted something completely new.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14- It looks to be about 40... - By 40 metres, perfect square.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18There is nothing to be seen on the ground,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22but it is possible there's something buried beneath the sand.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25To understand just how extraordinary these sun temples were,
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Vassil is taking me to look at what remains of one of the survivors.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Wow, look at this. So, is this the front door?
0:56:33 > 0:56:37Now, we're entering from the east side to the solar temple,
0:56:37 > 0:56:42from the Fifth Dynasty, and here is exactly the main entrance.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46It is a big corridor, closed, we don't see the sun yet.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48And suddenly you come out here in the courtyard and...
0:56:51 > 0:56:53You have the sun, shocking you.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01Once, this temple was bustling with people making offerings
0:57:01 > 0:57:03and priests performing ceremonies.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Look at this, this is the floor. Let's climb up.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11This is what they would be walking on?
0:57:11 > 0:57:12My goodness.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Were they walking, or were they on their knees?
0:57:16 > 0:57:20It is written in the walls just behind there that you have to
0:57:20 > 0:57:22be on your knees.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24It is exactly like the pilgrimage.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31That pilgrimage culminated in offerings for the sun god Ra,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34delivered to the central altar.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39This is the original from 4,500 years ago.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42Here we shall come with the main offering.
0:57:42 > 0:57:43And there we shall put it, here.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47In the middle, we see this round circle. This is Ra.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51The temple dedicated to Ra
0:57:51 > 0:57:55was a religious focus and an important source of wealth.
0:57:56 > 0:57:57The offerings were redistributed
0:57:57 > 0:58:00to the thousands of people who lived and worked here.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04I mean, bringing offering is paying taxes.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08Well, we are today, we pay all taxes, so that's how it works.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14What I've really understood is the fact that the sun is
0:58:14 > 0:58:18so central to the entire Egyptian world view.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Right here, it's utterly manifest in such a simple form,
0:58:21 > 0:58:24looking at that offering table, you can see it,
0:58:24 > 0:58:25the sun right in the middle.
0:58:25 > 0:58:29It's the centre of everything, the bringer of life, the creator.
0:58:53 > 0:58:58Rising above the altar was the dominant structure of the temple,
0:58:58 > 0:59:01the obelisk, focusing attention on the sun's rays.
0:59:11 > 0:59:16This was Old Kingdom architecture at its best, simple and striking.
0:59:21 > 0:59:25At present, there are no plans to excavate the new site,
0:59:25 > 0:59:29but it could be one of the most important finds Sarah has made.
0:59:29 > 0:59:31It's incredibly exciting.
0:59:31 > 0:59:35There are so many things to find and excavate all over Egypt and this
0:59:35 > 0:59:38is just an example of showing how the technology can work,
0:59:38 > 0:59:43but also showing that there is a lot of work left to be done, and this is for the future.
0:59:49 > 0:59:54The sun temple was an extraordinary example of Old Kingdom architecture,
0:59:54 > 0:59:56but Egyptian buildings were changing.
1:00:02 > 1:00:04The next building Sarah is hunting
1:00:04 > 1:00:07will reveal just how big that change was.
1:00:12 > 1:00:14It's from the Middle Kingdom
1:00:14 > 1:00:17and is quite literally the stuff of mythology.
1:00:18 > 1:00:21It could be the original labyrinth,
1:00:21 > 1:00:24a huge maze, pre-dating the Greek versions by centuries.
1:00:28 > 1:00:33Hawara is home to a mud-brick pyramid from the 12th Dynasty.
1:00:33 > 1:00:34Ramy has brought me
1:00:34 > 1:00:38to what appears to be an unlikely place to find a celebrated building.
1:00:38 > 1:00:41We're going to be talking about this wonderful...
1:00:41 > 1:00:44No, Liz, we'll be talking about something far greater.
1:00:44 > 1:00:49This is believed to be the most amazing site of Ancient Egypt.
1:00:49 > 1:00:53Nothing is left of it, but it was the most amazing structure ever.
1:00:53 > 1:00:58Don't keep looking, it's not there any more. That's the myth, we're looking for it.
1:00:58 > 1:00:59They look like molehills!
1:01:01 > 1:01:04The site was originally a temple to worship
1:01:04 > 1:01:08the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, buried in the pyramid at its side.
1:01:10 > 1:01:15The Greek historian Herodotus came here in 450 BC,
1:01:15 > 1:01:181,300 years after it was originally built.
1:01:18 > 1:01:22He thought that this was the most impressive building he had ever seen.
1:01:22 > 1:01:26"I visited this place and found it to surpass description.
1:01:26 > 1:01:28"The pyramids likewise surpass description,
1:01:28 > 1:01:32"the labyrinth surpasses the pyramids."
1:01:33 > 1:01:37Now, nothing remains, but could this building have been
1:01:37 > 1:01:40as remarkable as Herodotus described?
1:01:40 > 1:01:43It's time to see what Sarah has discovered.
1:01:43 > 1:01:45Here we have the pyramid.
1:01:45 > 1:01:48Here we have the overall site of Hawara.
1:01:49 > 1:01:51So...
1:01:56 > 1:01:58Good grief!
1:01:58 > 1:02:03And so, for the first time, using this technology, we can get
1:02:03 > 1:02:07a fairly accurate picture of the layout
1:02:07 > 1:02:11of the...certainly the enclosure wall, of the temple.
1:02:11 > 1:02:17Compared to the size of the pyramid, which is big, it's ginormous.
1:02:21 > 1:02:24The satellite image also suggests just how built-up
1:02:24 > 1:02:26the surrounding area was.
1:02:26 > 1:02:30We can get a really good sense of the overall layout
1:02:30 > 1:02:33of the structures that would have been associated.
1:02:33 > 1:02:40We can actually see city streets, plans of houses,
1:02:40 > 1:02:43structures - you have this very large city.
1:02:43 > 1:02:47It really would have been like a rabbit warren of structures
1:02:47 > 1:02:49surrounding the temple.
1:02:49 > 1:02:51Court after court after court after court.
1:02:51 > 1:02:54If you didn't know where you were going, you probably could get lost.
1:02:54 > 1:02:56- Hence the labyrinth. - Hence the labyrinth.
1:02:59 > 1:03:04We know how vast the temple once was, but what do we know of its design?
1:03:04 > 1:03:06Ramy wants to show me a recent find.
1:03:08 > 1:03:12Just two years ago they brought these sandstone slabs
1:03:12 > 1:03:13out of the canal.
1:03:15 > 1:03:16That's what we found on it.
1:03:16 > 1:03:19- My God, that is beautiful! - Look at that.
1:03:19 > 1:03:22That is the name of the king.
1:03:22 > 1:03:25Amenhotep III. Let me show you more stuff.
1:03:26 > 1:03:29This is another piece of sandstone that came out,
1:03:29 > 1:03:32and it has the image of the king.
1:03:35 > 1:03:39That is a proper depiction of King Amenhotep III.
1:03:39 > 1:03:43The detail is stupendous, isn't it? It's perfect.
1:03:43 > 1:03:47- Look at that, still preserved. - And there is still colour.
1:03:47 > 1:03:51Can you see that green? It is so beautiful, look at that.
1:04:10 > 1:04:15This building was one of Ancient Egypt's most impressive.
1:04:15 > 1:04:19By the time Herodotus came here, over 1,000 years after it was built,
1:04:19 > 1:04:23the labyrinth was already a major tourist attraction.
1:04:25 > 1:04:28Inside the temple, visitors would have walked through
1:04:28 > 1:04:30a maze of corridors and rooms,
1:04:30 > 1:04:34serving cults to the dead Pharaoh and to sacred crocodiles.
1:04:36 > 1:04:40And it was surrounded by a builders' town, priests' quarters
1:04:40 > 1:04:42and administrative buildings.
1:04:48 > 1:04:53This lost wonder, one of the great mysteries of the Middle Kingdom,
1:04:53 > 1:04:54can be brought back to life.
1:04:59 > 1:05:03The labyrinth shows how architecture was growing in complexity.
1:05:03 > 1:05:07Egypt was soon to expand and build a great empire,
1:05:07 > 1:05:09reaching its height in the New Kingdom.
1:05:10 > 1:05:14Sarah next wants to explore a building that epitomises
1:05:14 > 1:05:16this wealth and power.
1:05:16 > 1:05:19It's a harem, but it's hidden far from the beaten track,
1:05:19 > 1:05:21in a district known as the Fayoum.
1:05:27 > 1:05:30For many years, this site was a military base
1:05:30 > 1:05:31and much of it was destroyed.
1:05:31 > 1:05:34Now archaeologists are attempting to preserve it
1:05:34 > 1:05:38and Sarah is hoping that satellite archaeology can help.
1:05:40 > 1:05:44'I'm exploring this dusty desert edge with Dr Peter Lacovara,
1:05:44 > 1:05:47'an expert on royal architecture.
1:05:47 > 1:05:50'This is where the palace once stood.'
1:05:50 > 1:05:55Here, I'll show you one example of what came from here.
1:05:56 > 1:05:58That's Tut's grandmother.
1:05:58 > 1:06:00So...
1:06:00 > 1:06:03And she lives here. She was a tough customer.
1:06:03 > 1:06:07The mouth is downturned. She means business. She's no shrinking violet.
1:06:07 > 1:06:09She was very important.
1:06:09 > 1:06:15Tutankhamun probably spent his childhood here because this wasn't just any palace.
1:06:15 > 1:06:19It was a particular kind of palace called a harem palace,
1:06:19 > 1:06:22and it was a palace where the royal women lived.
1:06:22 > 1:06:25But also where royal children were raised,
1:06:25 > 1:06:29so Tutankhamun did probably spend part of his childhood here.
1:06:29 > 1:06:33I've got to say, this place looks so incredibly remote.
1:06:33 > 1:06:37Was it still considered remote back in the day when the palaces were here?
1:06:37 > 1:06:40Yes, I think one of the reasons they picked
1:06:40 > 1:06:42this rather isolated place was
1:06:42 > 1:06:46to keep the royal women restrained,
1:06:46 > 1:06:48because you wanted to limit access to them.
1:06:48 > 1:06:51The king wanted to be sure that their children were his children.
1:06:51 > 1:06:56- Really?- Because they were, of course, the royal heirs.
1:06:56 > 1:06:57Sarah wants to show us
1:06:57 > 1:07:01what this remote harem palace was really like.
1:07:04 > 1:07:05Zoom in a little bit more.
1:07:07 > 1:07:08There we go.
1:07:12 > 1:07:16The whole area is pock-marked by modern military bunkers.
1:07:16 > 1:07:19Nevertheless, the satellite imagery suggests that the wall
1:07:19 > 1:07:23that surrounded the palace and some of its internal features
1:07:23 > 1:07:24have survived.
1:07:26 > 1:07:30But Sarah's image has revealed much more than the palace.
1:07:30 > 1:07:34These outlines of potential buildings have been hidden by the desert sands
1:07:34 > 1:07:36for 3,500 years.
1:07:38 > 1:07:42It's an enclosed workmen's village with little houses and streets
1:07:42 > 1:07:45and an entry way here.
1:07:45 > 1:07:48Perhaps maybe a little shrine.
1:07:48 > 1:07:51They often are in the workmen's villages.
1:07:51 > 1:07:54Workmen for the building of what?
1:07:54 > 1:07:58For the building of the palace, then also making all the sculpture,
1:07:58 > 1:08:01and the furniture, and things like that.
1:08:01 > 1:08:03It's fabulous. Unbelievable.
1:08:03 > 1:08:08To see it in that detail, this would take you years, decades to excavate,
1:08:08 > 1:08:11to get that kind of picture you are getting.
1:08:11 > 1:08:16I mean, you wouldn't know that this needed to be protected without this.
1:08:16 > 1:08:19This is a tool to help us identify and protect these areas.
1:08:21 > 1:08:23The palace was deliberately isolated,
1:08:23 > 1:08:27but recent work has shown it wasn't quite as isolated as first thought.
1:08:27 > 1:08:30Once, a branch of the Nile flowed close by.
1:08:31 > 1:08:35You can almost picture it in your head, not only the palace,
1:08:35 > 1:08:38but the settlement, the villas, the docks of the river,
1:08:38 > 1:08:40it must have been stunning.
1:08:46 > 1:08:49It's a whole new colony.
1:08:49 > 1:08:51There wasn't just a harem,
1:08:51 > 1:08:53but also a village for the workers who built it.
1:08:55 > 1:08:59There were waterfront villas for its administrators.
1:08:59 > 1:09:03This was a thriving community, serving the royal wives living
1:09:03 > 1:09:05within the palace walls.
1:09:07 > 1:09:09As a result of Sarah's work,
1:09:09 > 1:09:12the whole of this site should now be preserved.
1:09:21 > 1:09:24All of this new information can be added to Sarah's map.
1:09:30 > 1:09:34Throughout the district of the Fayoum, as well as the harem,
1:09:34 > 1:09:40Sarah has located another 150 potential structures and settlements.
1:09:40 > 1:09:43The new map of Ancient Egypt is beginning to take shape.
1:09:49 > 1:09:52There's one more area left to explore,
1:09:52 > 1:09:56from the Fayoum to the Mediterranean Sea, once known as Lower Egypt.
1:10:05 > 1:10:10Sarah wants to find what was Egypt's capital for nearly 400 years.
1:10:15 > 1:10:17The lost city of Itjtawy.
1:10:19 > 1:10:22It's as important to the Egyptians as Camelot
1:10:22 > 1:10:24and King Arthur are to the British.
1:10:25 > 1:10:28There's no doubt it was a real place,
1:10:28 > 1:10:31but many archaeologists believe it's vanished for ever under
1:10:31 > 1:10:33metres of silt on the Nile flood plain.
1:10:39 > 1:10:42This will push Sarah's technology to its limits.
1:10:49 > 1:10:53Historical sources place the lost capital city close to
1:10:53 > 1:10:57the modern settlement of Lisht, some 70 kilometres south of Cairo.
1:11:02 > 1:11:06We've been joined by geo-archaeologist Dr Judith Bunbury,
1:11:06 > 1:11:09and her colleague Dr Bettina Bader.
1:11:09 > 1:11:13Sarah has identified a potential area close to Lisht.
1:11:13 > 1:11:18Scholars know that somewhere in this area is the city of Itjtawy.
1:11:18 > 1:11:21It's definitely here? There are no doubts about that?
1:11:21 > 1:11:25It will be located somewhere in the vicinity of Lisht.
1:11:25 > 1:11:28You are pointing at agricultural land, which is a little bit worrying.
1:11:28 > 1:11:31Usually when we're looking at sites, we're looking at desert,
1:11:31 > 1:11:34which makes it easier to use your technology.
1:11:34 > 1:11:37If you are talking about settlements on agricultural land, that's a problem.
1:11:37 > 1:11:41This is something scholars have said, we're never going to find it
1:11:41 > 1:11:45because it's too deeply buried underneath agricultural fields.
1:11:45 > 1:11:49Because the lost city is buried far beneath the surface,
1:11:49 > 1:11:51the infrared camera can't help,
1:11:51 > 1:11:53so Sarah will have to use a different technique.
1:11:54 > 1:11:58Back in Alabama, her team place the satellite image over a 3D map.
1:12:00 > 1:12:03Now the landscape looks completely different.
1:12:05 > 1:12:09It shows the area is raised, it looks like an ancient river bank,
1:12:09 > 1:12:12but the Nile is currently eight kilometres east of here.
1:12:14 > 1:12:17This fits in with Judith's work tracking
1:12:17 > 1:12:21where the branches of the Nile might have flowed 3,500 years ago.
1:12:23 > 1:12:27We can see some interesting field boundaries that make it look like
1:12:27 > 1:12:29a river has migrated that way in this area.
1:12:29 > 1:12:34We think we've got a former channel of the Nile somewhere down here.
1:12:34 > 1:12:36We've got quite a deep channel.
1:12:36 > 1:12:38A dip in the topography along this area.
1:12:40 > 1:12:43A raised river bank on the edge of a branch of the Nile -
1:12:43 > 1:12:47it could be the ideal location for a lost capital city.
1:12:47 > 1:12:49It's completely covered over,
1:12:49 > 1:12:53so the question is how deeply is the archaeological material buried?
1:12:53 > 1:12:57And can we then use coring to get at what lies underneath?
1:12:57 > 1:12:59What's coring?
1:12:59 > 1:13:04It takes place in sort of a 10cm circular tube.
1:13:04 > 1:13:06- Like a big apple corer.- Yeah.
1:13:06 > 1:13:08And you just go down and see what comes out?
1:13:11 > 1:13:15A team from Cairo University begins drilling into the mud
1:13:15 > 1:13:17to obtain core samples.
1:13:17 > 1:13:20In such a large area, though, coring is a bit of a lottery.
1:13:21 > 1:13:25A few centimetres in the wrong direction might miss the telltale
1:13:25 > 1:13:28piece of pottery or the treasure that's remained
1:13:28 > 1:13:30undisturbed for centuries.
1:13:31 > 1:13:37After 3,500 years of annual flooding, the evidence will be deeply buried.
1:13:37 > 1:13:41Already the corer has dug down five metres.
1:13:41 > 1:13:44Hi, Bettina, hi, Judith. How are you doing?
1:13:44 > 1:13:45Oh, we are having fun.
1:13:45 > 1:13:48Have you found anything of note?
1:13:48 > 1:13:53I've got a very nervous Sarah here! She's gone all quiet and silent.
1:13:53 > 1:13:57We've found lots of mud and it's absolutely packed with pottery.
1:13:57 > 1:14:00It's not so obvious, but you can see there,
1:14:00 > 1:14:03but we've picked loads of this out already.
1:14:03 > 1:14:08This is six metres down. We must be a fair way back.
1:14:08 > 1:14:12A general ballpark figure is a metre per thousand years,
1:14:12 > 1:14:15so we'd be thinking we were several thousand years back.
1:14:15 > 1:14:20- Look at that! - Oh, well done. Is it a rim?
1:14:20 > 1:14:21LAUGHTER
1:14:21 > 1:14:24- It belongs in a museum! - Did you find a rim?
1:14:24 > 1:14:27It's not rim, no, unfortunately not.
1:14:27 > 1:14:28It's very satisfying doing this.
1:14:28 > 1:14:31- Straight back to kindergarten. - Exactly.
1:14:32 > 1:14:35It will take time to date all of this pottery
1:14:35 > 1:14:38and sift through the mud to make sure we don't miss anything.
1:14:38 > 1:14:42Will we find more than just the rubbish from an old village?
1:14:43 > 1:14:46Is there any evidence of the lost capital city?
1:14:57 > 1:14:59'The following day, Sarah and I are back.
1:15:01 > 1:15:03'Have they been able to find anything?'
1:15:04 > 1:15:08They've certainly dug up a huge amount of pottery.
1:15:08 > 1:15:12It's from the right date, it's definitely Middle Kingdom,
1:15:12 > 1:15:14but it could still be from a small village.
1:15:14 > 1:15:19Is there anything in your boxes that sort of suggests this is
1:15:19 > 1:15:22a lost city, rather than any old settlement?
1:15:22 > 1:15:25We are starting to find things like carnelian chips,
1:15:25 > 1:15:27which straightaway raises the status.
1:15:27 > 1:15:31- That is very interesting. - Why is that interesting?
1:15:31 > 1:15:33We call it a semi-precious stone,
1:15:33 > 1:15:37but it was much prized for making amulets and decorative inlays.
1:15:37 > 1:15:40So this is evidence that this has been worked
1:15:40 > 1:15:43and people are using this material to make jewellery?
1:15:43 > 1:15:44Exactly.
1:15:44 > 1:15:47Then we have got this beautiful piece of agate.
1:15:47 > 1:15:50Oh, wow, look at that. This is incredibly unusual.
1:15:50 > 1:15:52That's quite rare.
1:15:52 > 1:15:55To find this in a core is extraordinary.
1:15:55 > 1:15:57And this is the jewel in the crown.
1:15:57 > 1:15:58The jewel in the crown.
1:15:58 > 1:16:00Never before found in a core in Egypt.
1:16:02 > 1:16:07- We have got a piece of amethyst for you.- Oh, my goodness. Wow.
1:16:09 > 1:16:15- That is beautiful.- That is pretty rare in Egypt altogether.
1:16:15 > 1:16:17Even in jewellery, amethyst is quite rare.
1:16:17 > 1:16:21That's amazing. We are dealing with incredibly high status.
1:16:21 > 1:16:23These are high rollers.
1:16:23 > 1:16:27That's incredible. To find something like this in a core.
1:16:27 > 1:16:30- So, this is Egyptian bling?- Yes.
1:16:33 > 1:16:35This is an important find.
1:16:35 > 1:16:39Only royalty and priests wore semi-precious stones
1:16:39 > 1:16:41like this necklace unearthed 100 years ago,
1:16:41 > 1:16:44made of both carnelian and amethyst.
1:16:44 > 1:16:47These discoveries suggest a major city was once here.
1:16:50 > 1:16:52Happy?
1:16:52 > 1:16:56I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this.
1:16:56 > 1:17:01A core rich with pottery and then to find amethyst and agate
1:17:01 > 1:17:06and worked carnelian in the same core. This is very exciting.
1:17:06 > 1:17:09- You hit the jackpot. - I feel like I've hit the jackpot.
1:17:09 > 1:17:13For a long time, Egyptologists have said the city is too far buried
1:17:13 > 1:17:18and we'll never get to it, and yet, to find something like this,
1:17:18 > 1:17:20we're on to something big here.
1:17:21 > 1:17:25For Sarah, it's the realisation of her dream.
1:17:25 > 1:17:30I guess it was a Howard Carter moment for me.
1:17:30 > 1:17:32It felt like the satellite imagery was the torch
1:17:32 > 1:17:34and I got to peer inside.
1:17:34 > 1:17:35And with the coring work,
1:17:35 > 1:17:37you know, we saw wonderful things,
1:17:37 > 1:17:40we saw the pottery and the beautiful semi-precious stones
1:17:40 > 1:17:43that showed us that this long-lost city
1:17:43 > 1:17:45isn't quite as lost as it used to be.
1:17:54 > 1:17:57Satellite archaeology has found the likely site of
1:17:57 > 1:18:00the lost capital city of Itjtawy.
1:18:08 > 1:18:12It lay on the banks of a now extinct branch of the Nile.
1:18:13 > 1:18:15The jewellery worn by its royalty
1:18:15 > 1:18:18and priests was amongst the finest in the land.
1:18:20 > 1:18:24The Camelot of Ancient Egypt may finally have been found.
1:18:28 > 1:18:31But Sarah isn't stopping there.
1:18:31 > 1:18:33She's now completed the map of Lower Egypt.
1:18:33 > 1:18:40From Itjtawy to the Nile delta, she has found 1,250 possible new sites.
1:18:40 > 1:18:43It promises to be an archaeological treasure trove,
1:18:43 > 1:18:46potentially full of undiscovered towns.
1:18:47 > 1:18:50The implications are immense.
1:18:50 > 1:18:54It suggests a population far larger than previously imagined.
1:18:59 > 1:19:02Our final task remains to see what Dr Hawass has
1:19:02 > 1:19:04discovered at the Saqqara pyramid field.
1:19:06 > 1:19:08We're heading back to Saqqara,
1:19:08 > 1:19:11the location where Sarah thinks there may still be undiscovered
1:19:11 > 1:19:15pyramids left to find, and, of course, the big question for us is,
1:19:15 > 1:19:18will the clues suggested by her satellite imagery
1:19:18 > 1:19:20actually reveal anything?
1:19:20 > 1:19:21The last time we were here,
1:19:21 > 1:19:25that exploratory excavation work was just about to start
1:19:25 > 1:19:27and scheduled to go on for several months.
1:19:27 > 1:19:30And then, of course, something quite dramatic happened.
1:19:35 > 1:19:38Egypt, that had been in the iron grip of a dictatorship
1:19:38 > 1:19:40for decades, rose up.
1:19:40 > 1:19:42The Arab Spring came to Cairo.
1:19:44 > 1:19:46CHANTING
1:19:46 > 1:19:50Of course, attention initially focused on the human cost
1:19:50 > 1:19:53of the unfolding drama, but the revolution succeeded in
1:19:53 > 1:19:56just a few weeks, and the President resigned from office.
1:19:59 > 1:20:01Then, thoughts turned to the antiquities.
1:20:01 > 1:20:05There were reports of looting at some of Egypt's most important sites.
1:20:07 > 1:20:11In January, all excavations across Egypt, including Saqqara,
1:20:11 > 1:20:14stopped, and no-one knows when they will start up again.
1:20:14 > 1:20:17All we know is it will take quite some time.
1:20:17 > 1:20:21So, it's safe to say we're back here with a sense of trepidation,
1:20:21 > 1:20:24because we know the excavations couldn't be completed
1:20:24 > 1:20:27but we don't know if they found anything in the short time that they
1:20:27 > 1:20:31were digging, or if anywhere on this precious site has been damaged.
1:20:39 > 1:20:42As we enter the archaeological site at Saqqara,
1:20:42 > 1:20:45we come across something completely unexpected.
1:20:53 > 1:20:56Thousands of newly constructed tombs,
1:20:56 > 1:20:58a modern graveyard on an industrial scale,
1:20:58 > 1:21:02built so recently it hasn't yet shown up on Sarah's images.
1:21:03 > 1:21:07It wasn't here before, it's absolutely massive in size.
1:21:07 > 1:21:09I'm very shaken right now,
1:21:09 > 1:21:13I was in complete shock when we came over the hill.
1:21:13 > 1:21:16They've built these hundreds, hundreds of graves.
1:21:16 > 1:21:18They're not occupied right now.
1:21:18 > 1:21:20You can see them building in the background and you can
1:21:20 > 1:21:22also see across this landscape
1:21:22 > 1:21:26just how much additional land they are preparing.
1:21:26 > 1:21:28This is a major threat to Egypt's past.
1:21:30 > 1:21:35This site may now be guarded again, but how extensive is the damage?
1:21:36 > 1:21:39Sarah's obtained some recent satellite images of
1:21:39 > 1:21:42other important sites across Egypt.
1:21:42 > 1:21:46If we zoom in, in particular, to this area at Abusir,
1:21:46 > 1:21:53this is November 2009, it looks like an almost completely untouched area.
1:21:53 > 1:21:59Well, here comes the tough part for me,
1:21:59 > 1:22:01professionally as well as personally.
1:22:01 > 1:22:05I had heard all of these rumours about all of the looting
1:22:05 > 1:22:06at the sites.
1:22:06 > 1:22:10- Whoa!- Do you see all of the holes? - Gosh, that's ridiculous!
1:22:10 > 1:22:14This is post-revolution, people just steaming in and digging?
1:22:14 > 1:22:15There are hundreds of holes.
1:22:15 > 1:22:18I can't get over the number of holes. That's ridiculous.
1:22:18 > 1:22:21- And you see that up there? You see the bulldozer?- Oh, my gosh.
1:22:21 > 1:22:25Did you ever think you would use the technology for this?
1:22:25 > 1:22:28I guess it's an unfortunate advantage in using this imagery,
1:22:28 > 1:22:31knowing exactly where the looting pits are.
1:22:31 > 1:22:35It allows us to not only quantify the amount of looting but to be able
1:22:35 > 1:22:38to pick out exactly what might have been taken
1:22:38 > 1:22:40so at least we can alert the authorities.
1:22:43 > 1:22:47'I meet up with Professor Salima Ikram.
1:22:47 > 1:22:50'She was a witness to the revolution,
1:22:50 > 1:22:52'and to the destruction that followed.'
1:22:52 > 1:22:54Which site are you most concerned about?
1:22:54 > 1:23:00What was worst hit was the area around Cairo, which is Saqqara, Dahshur, Giza and Abusir.
1:23:00 > 1:23:05The police vanished. What happened was you get two kind of looters
1:23:05 > 1:23:07coming into archaeological sites.
1:23:07 > 1:23:10Some people came from the villages because they were never allowed in,
1:23:10 > 1:23:12but the other, much more dangerous one,
1:23:12 > 1:23:15is done by people who know, and there were groups
1:23:15 > 1:23:17of people who are antiquities thieves
1:23:17 > 1:23:21or are in touch with collectors who deal with Egyptian antiquities.
1:23:23 > 1:23:26The area in Saqqara where satellite archaeology has identified
1:23:26 > 1:23:29two potential pyramids hasn't been looted.
1:23:30 > 1:23:33But Dr Hawass and his team had barely started to excavate
1:23:33 > 1:23:37before the revolution meant their work had to stop.
1:23:38 > 1:23:40- Good morning, how are you? - Good to see you again.
1:23:40 > 1:23:43A lot has happened since I last saw you,
1:23:43 > 1:23:45- since we were climbing in the pyramids.- Yes.
1:23:45 > 1:23:48When we were last here, you'd started digging the tombs over there
1:23:48 > 1:23:51and obviously political events got in the way.
1:23:51 > 1:23:54Did you find things that excited you?
1:23:54 > 1:23:55- Obviously, we...- I have.
1:23:55 > 1:23:59I'm going to take you now to show you very exciting things
1:23:59 > 1:24:00that we discovered.
1:24:01 > 1:24:05First, we check out one of the possible pyramids.
1:24:05 > 1:24:09In the short time they had to dig, it looks like they found something.
1:24:15 > 1:24:19We began to discover this wall, and this wall is
1:24:19 > 1:24:22a part of the enclosure wall of the pyramid,
1:24:22 > 1:24:24surrounding this pyramid.
1:24:24 > 1:24:28You can see it is an archaeological structure from
1:24:28 > 1:24:31the satellite images only.
1:24:31 > 1:24:34It's too soon to say whose pyramid this might have been,
1:24:34 > 1:24:38but this wasn't the only thing Dr Hawass uncovered.
1:24:39 > 1:24:41In another area of the site,
1:24:41 > 1:24:44he found the curved walls of a temple.
1:24:45 > 1:24:47Have you ever seen something...?
1:24:47 > 1:24:52No, never in any Old Kingdom or Middle Kingdom pyramid we saw
1:24:52 > 1:24:55structure like this.
1:24:55 > 1:24:59This could be later one of the most important archaeological sites
1:24:59 > 1:25:04in Egypt, because it needs excavation for the coming 50 years.
1:25:05 > 1:25:07Elsewhere, the beginnings of a chapel
1:25:07 > 1:25:10from the 11th Dynasty were revealed.
1:25:10 > 1:25:12- HE GASPS - Wow!
1:25:12 > 1:25:14Look at that!
1:25:22 > 1:25:26'And evidence that indicates this site was of major significance
1:25:26 > 1:25:27'as far back as the Old Kingdom.'
1:25:29 > 1:25:32We make this trench.
1:25:32 > 1:25:35Soon, when we start our excavation again in this area,
1:25:35 > 1:25:39we will discover a unique tomb.
1:25:39 > 1:25:42'Even for an experienced hand like Dr Hawass,
1:25:42 > 1:25:46'satellite archaeology has changed everything.'
1:25:46 > 1:25:51We have to thank this new technology, the satellite images,
1:25:51 > 1:25:55because I was not interested in this site at all.
1:25:55 > 1:26:00And I found out only through the photographs that this site is
1:26:00 > 1:26:01very important.
1:26:04 > 1:26:06It's the vindication of Sarah's work.
1:26:06 > 1:26:11What we have right here is just the tantalising beginnings,
1:26:11 > 1:26:13the hints of a pyramid complex,
1:26:13 > 1:26:16and that's exactly what was spotted from space.
1:26:16 > 1:26:21With minimal excavation, if you can find a beautiful limestone block,
1:26:21 > 1:26:23then I cannot even begin to imagine
1:26:23 > 1:26:26what they are going to find over the next few years.
1:26:28 > 1:26:31Beneath the undulating surface of the desert,
1:26:31 > 1:26:35where so little appeared to exist,
1:26:35 > 1:26:39there could be a huge complex of pyramids from the 13th Dynasty.
1:26:46 > 1:26:50We had no idea of the extent of all of this.
1:26:50 > 1:26:53We're talking pyramids, tombs that have been found,
1:26:53 > 1:26:57the possibility of temples, layer upon layer of history
1:26:57 > 1:26:59right here, waiting to be discovered,
1:26:59 > 1:27:02and these are the gaps that are going to be filled in
1:27:02 > 1:27:04to tell a much more complete story of Egypt,
1:27:04 > 1:27:06and that's what's amazing.
1:27:08 > 1:27:11Sarah has now completed the monumental task of creating
1:27:11 > 1:27:13a new map of Ancient Egypt.
1:27:16 > 1:27:21We're witnessing a new era in this fantastic country's history,
1:27:21 > 1:27:26and the challenge now is to preserve all of the sites and their treasures
1:27:26 > 1:27:29for future generations, and what is very clear is that the potential
1:27:29 > 1:27:34of space archaeology for conserving the distant past is enormous,
1:27:34 > 1:27:37not only here in Egypt but for ancient civilisations
1:27:37 > 1:27:39all over the world.
1:27:43 > 1:27:46Sarah may have found thousands of new tombs
1:27:46 > 1:27:50and 3,100 possible new settlements.
1:27:50 > 1:27:53Some of the new sites appear to be tiny villages,
1:27:53 > 1:27:56others important capitals.
1:27:56 > 1:28:01It's perhaps the most extensive audit of Ancient Egypt ever achieved.
1:28:01 > 1:28:04It'll not only begin to fill the gaps in the map,
1:28:04 > 1:28:08but also in our understanding of this remarkable civilisation.
1:28:33 > 1:28:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd